'People will watch the film, not the pair'

Actress Vidya Balan on her upcoming film Kismet Konnection, link-up rumour with Shahid Kapur and working with Aziz Mirza, interviewed by Diganta Guha.

Catching up with her these days is as tough as convincing MS Dhoni to get Sourav Ganguly back in the one-day cricket team.

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Evidently, Parineeta’s Lolita is very busy. “I hardly get to sleep,” wails Vidya Balan on her mobile. And yet, she doesn’t sound too pressurised, which is surprising considering the bad press she has been getting of late - whether about her alleged romance with Kismet Konnection co-star Shahid Kapur, or her dubious dress sense, or her dramatic weight gain.

Far from sounding upset about all this, however, Vidya sounds buoyant. “Jisko jo kehna hai kehne do na. I guess Shahid and I met at a time when we both were single and the rumours began. But how does it matter when he and I know the truth?”

Just to set the record straight, she and he are not seeing each other, she says. Fantastic, we say, but what about the criticism of her dress sense?

“One day one publication says I am the best dressed and another says the opposite. I can’t make everybody happy.” So we move on to less provocative issues, such as her perfect on-screen chemistry with Shahid.

“Thank you so much. He’s such a helpful actor. We hit it off right from the word go,” she says. Hmm. But there’s no stopping Vidya now. “You know, initially there was this thing that I look older than Shahid and some people even said Kismet Konnection was about a relationship between an older woman and a younger man,” she says. “Actually, before Kismet… he did all those college films while I did more mature roles...”

Coming up for Vidya are AB Corp’s Pa with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, Chenab Gandhi with Harman Baweja and a film produced by Vishal Bhardwaj. And one final question: is the Shahid-Vidya link-up promoting their film? No, says Vidya. “People will watch the film, not a particular pair,” she winds up.